


A Sleeping World Behind our Eyes

by stormoftara



Category: MindCrack RPF
Genre: Blood, Coma AU, Death, M/M, Minecraft, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 11:14:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 12,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6564049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormoftara/pseuds/stormoftara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nebris falls to a terrible fate, he discovers that the world he knew was only lies. Would all his friends find their way back to him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Only World We Know

He sat on the hill, watching the clouds drift by, munching on a porkchop. The sun was shining, no chance of mobs spawning today. Not that it would bother Nebris if they did spawn, he was perfectly capable of handling himself. Still it was nice to just enjoy a sunny day once and awhile.

Nebris suddenly felt the hairs on the back of neck stand on end. He drew his sword, quickly stood, and spun on the spot in one quick fluid movement. He saw another man standing almost directly in front of him, his sword also drawn. Nebris didn’t pause, he swung his sword forward. The other man, with a mask hiding most of his face, blocked the blow skillfully with his sword. The two men looked at each other with intensity in their eyes for a moment when suddenly the other man spoke.

  
“Oh man Nebris, how do you always know I’m there?”

  
“I don’t know Etho, maybe you should be more sneaky.” Nebris giggled. This had become something of a routine for them. Nebris sat back down, putting his sword away and pulling back out his porkchops. He offered one to Etho, smiling brightly.

  
“Thanks.” Etho sat down next to him, smiling behind his mask. Nebris watched him eat, and it was only then, after so many times watching Etho eat that he realized that something was strange.  
“Hey Etho?” Nebris inquired. “How do you eat without taking your mask off?”

  
Etho looked startled and answered slowly. “You know, I never thought of that before…”

 

…

Vechs sat in his underground base trying to figure out something that had been bothering him for awhile. He has called over his friend Zisteau, who had brought Kurt with him.

  
“Hey man, what’s going on!” Zisteau called out boisterously.

  
“Hello.” Kurt said, somewhat more quietly.

  
“Okay guys, I am having a bit of a problem here. It just occurred to me the other day.” Vechs was sitting in his tree farm, looking at a tree he had half chopped down. Zisteau was a bit concerned. Normally Vechs would be jumping all over the place, and fawning over Zisteau, calling him pigderp and flirting. It was rare to see a contemplative Vechs sitting down. “Why doesn’t the tree fall down?”

  
“What?” Zisteau said taken a bit aback.

  
Vechs stood up, and searched through his inventory for another block. He placed a sand next to the floating tree, and it fell to the ground. Then he did the same thing with a gravel block. “Why do some blocks fall down, and others don’t? It doesn’t seem to make a lick of sense.”

  
Zisteau and Kurt looked at each other, at a loss for words. Still it was Kurt who finally spoke up first. “Isn’t that just the way the world works? I mean it’s always been that way.”

  
Vechs still looked dismayed. “Listen up buddy, don’t think too hard about it, it’s not that important.” Zisteau tried to cheer him up.

  
“Yeah.” Vechs said, trying his best to put a smile on his face, but only Zisteau could tell that it wasn’t a true smile.

 

…

“Guude!” Pause called out so loudly that Guude almost fell off the wall he was building.

  
“Damn guy, can’t you talk normally for once in your life?” Guude called out, smiling while he did so.

  
“Haha like that would ever happen.” Beef called out from beside Pause. They stood at the bottom of the wall, but Beef pulled out some blocks of dirt and began block jumping up to Guude.

  
“Hey what about me?” Pause said from the bottom of the wall, in a sad small voice. “Beef?”

  
Beef chuckled and threw him down a stack of dirt. Pause jumped up the blocks and joined them on the top of the wall.

  
“So what brings you guys to Spawn Town today?” Guude said, sitting on the edge of the wall. Pause and Beef sat down next to him.

  
"Well we thought you might be hungry, so we brought you some chicken from BTC’s Royal Chicken.” Beef replied. “You’ve been working so hard on these monuments. Go on Pause, give the poor man some.”

  
Pause smiled and pulled out a stack of chicken, which he divided among the three of them. “Huh.”

  
“What is it guy?” Guude asked, seeing the look of confusion on the Indian’s face.

  
“It’s nothing, just…” Pause trailed off, but still seemed unwilling to let it go. “Just, like, how come when we have things in our inventory they are so small, but when we pull them out they get bigger? And where exactly is our inventory anyway?”

  
“Oh come on Pause don’t ask such silly questions.” Beef smiled, but the smile quickly faded.

  
“Ugh, you guys never listen to me.” Pause jumped off the wall and stormed off.

  
Guude and Beef looked at each other. “Well you know, he does have a bit of a point.” Guude said, but then just shrugged it off. It probably wasn’t all that important anyway.

…

Nebris went to bed that night, but couldn’t really fall asleep. His mind was full of thoughts of all sorts. Things that didn’t make sense, things that just didn’t seem right. He tried to remember as far back as he could, but all he could remember was this world. Always being here, in this world. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much, but still a lingering feeling of unease washed over him. He sighed again. He tried to think of something else, and somehow managed to fall asleep.

 

He dreamed of a strange place with bright lights and a pure white ceiling. He could hear a voice calling out to him. Quietly at first, but then louder.

  
“Chris…..”

  
Nebris woke with a jolt. It was morning, but unlike the day before, it was raining heavily. He sat in his bed for a few minutes, trying to make sense of the dream he had. It seemed way too strange. Nebris rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and rolled out of bed, still feeling very much uncomfortable. In a way, he wished he had never noticed the strangeness around him.


	2. Death and Life

A few days later Nebris was sitting on a hill near Spawn Town, watching the sun move slowly across the sky. His mind was so full of thoughts he didn’t want to think he could barely move his body. Where did he come from in the first place? Just what was the world he was living in and where did it come from? Nothing seemed to make sense, yet no one else seemed to be questioning it. He was trying to remember when he first came to be here, what his first memory was, when all of a sudden he felt a sharp tap on his left arm.

“Surprise!” Etho called out joyfully, sword in his hand.

“Oh so it’s a spar you want.” Nebris smiled at seeing his friend, yet still felt slightly shocked that he hadn’t noticed him there before.

Nebris pulled out his own sword, and took a battle stance. He lunged for Etho, who easily blocked his sword. Nebris wasn’t quite feeling up to battling today, but there was no way he could let Etho win. He went after him again, but he slipped slightly on the grass and dropped his sword.

Etho was already plunging his sword forward, and couldn’t stop himself in time. The sword pierced Nebris’s stomach. Nebris fell to the ground, coughing up blood. “Oh no oh no.” Etho cried out.

Nebris felt the world around him going black. He tried to open his inventory to get a potion out, but he realized he hadn’t brought any with him that day. He didn’t know what was going to happen now…was he going to die?

Etho quickly sorted through his own inventory and brought out a splash potion of instant health. He fumbled a bit, but managed to finally splash it on Nebris. He knelt down, feeling panicked still. Nebris wasn’t moving though. He was still. He was…

“NEBRIS!” Etho screamed out. “Wake up! Don’t do this to me. Don’t don’t don’t…” Etho couldn’t bring himself to say the last word. He couldn’t believe it. Was Nebris really gone? Was it all his fault? Etho started screaming incoherently. He screamed so loudly that his throat started to hurt. He screamed until he had no voice left to scream with. Then he fell over sobbing, clutching at Nebris. Trying to bring him back. “No…no…” He croaked out sorely. “No…”

…

Nebris’s body hurt. Not just where Etho had stabbed him, but everywhere else as well. And not the same kind of stabbing pain, but a general dull ache. He throat felt very dry. He attempted to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt far too heavy. Where was he exactly? The bed felt different from the one he normally slept in. He could smell something strange in the air as well.

After struggling for a few more moments, Nebris was able to open his eyes. It reminded him of a dream. The room was so bright, with a pure white ceiling. It felt so cold, so unfamiliar. He saw a woman standing nearby, attending to a person in bed that looked similar to his own. “Hello?” Nebris’s voice cracked when he spoke, but the nurse spun around quickly, with shock in her eyes.

“Chris? You’re awake?” the woman cried out. “Let me get the doctor. Hold on.” The woman walked away briskly. Doctor? Like DocM? Nebris thought to himself. Well at least he’d get to see a familiar face. The man the woman brought over looked nothing like DocM though. He sounded nothing like him either. The man explained to him that he’d been in a coma for a year, that he was still very weak. That memory loss was common among coma patients. A lot of other things as well. Nebris couldn’t concentrate very well on what he was saying. His mind was running wild. Did this mean that none of that other world was real? That Etho wasn’t real? Nebris wanted to cry.

“You’ll start to remember things eventually. In the meantime, you have a lot of physical therapy ahead of you to get you back in shape. Eventually you’ll be able to lead a normal life again.” The doctor kept talking as Nebris looked around. The man in the bed next to him looked just like…

“ETHO!” Nebris cried out, startling the nurse and doctor. “That’s him! That’s Etho! It wasn’t just a dream.”

The doctor and nurse looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. “That’s not his name…” the nurse started but the doctor shook his head at her.

“He might be remembering something. Can you tell us more about this Etho?” the doctor smiled.

And so, Nebris started his story about the other world, and the people who had inhabited it.

…

It was Guude who had heard Etho’s screaming and he came running over to him. He watched for a bit as Etho cried hysterically. Guude pieced together what must’ve happened. Etho’s sword was still in Nebris’s body, after all. Guude himself was shocked, but as the leader, he knew he had to keep himself together.

“Etho.” Guude said quietly, as Etho lay on the ground, his head on Nebris’s chest, sobbing much more silently now.

Etho jumped up at his name, and spun around wildly to face Guude. “I killed him. I KILLED HIM.” Etho’s eyes were bloodshot and wild. He looked a terrible wreck. “I don’t deserve to live! I KILLED NEBRIS!” Etho pulled his sword out of Nebris and pointed it at his own neck.

Guude ran over before Etho could do anything stupid. “Guy calm down!” Guude pulled the sword away from Etho, who gave little resistance. Etho fell to his knees.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I never even got to tell him that…” Etho couldn’t finish the sentence. Tears fell down his face silently. Guude was at a loss too, but he knelt down in front of Etho and gave him a hug and let him cry for a bit longer.

…

The next day they held a little funeral for Nebris. Everyone attended. No one blamed Etho, they all kept telling him it was an accident. Still Etho felt like he should take all the blame. He wished everyone would be angry with him, although he knew no one else could be as angry with him as he was with himself. How could he ever move on from this? How could life ever be the same again? This was all his fault.

They all agreed to no more PVP. It was just too dangerous.


	3. Let the Rain Wash Away the Pain of Yesterday

“Wake him up!” Nebris cried out to the doctor. “Why should I keep answering your questions if you won’t wake up Etho.”

“Chris, that’s not his name.”

“YES, it is his name. And I’m not Chris, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Nebris.”

The doctor sighed. “Okay Nebris, do you remember what happened before you went into the coma?”

“WAKE UP ETHO.”

”Don’t you think if I could do that, I would have already?” The doctor sighed again. “I’m really just worried about you right now Chr…Nebris. You obviously are struggling through some kind of trauma, and you still believe that your dream was real.”

“It was real! How many times do I have to tell you? How else do you think I would know about Etho?”

"How else indeed.”

The next week seemed to last a lifetime for Nebris. He just couldn’t adjust to being in the real world. He kept trying to open his inventory, to find it wasn’t there. He tried to craft something, but there was no crafting tables around. He screamed the first time they turned the lights off at night. The doctor reassured him that there was nothing hiding in the dark, but Nebris convinced them to keep the lights on at night from then on. It seemed it would take a long time to readjust to this so called real world.

At night he had dreams of the other world. They were very fragmented, but he could see the trees and buildings and all the other things that made that world so special. But he couldn’t see any other people. He didn’t like that at all.

The doctor released him at the end of that week, but on the condition that he returned everyday so he could examine him. Nebris agreed, he probably would’ve gone back everyday anyway. The rest of the coma patients were still there, sleeping soundly. The doctor had told him that they all had fallen into a coma at the same time, but nothing more than that. He looked around at all the people in the beds, mentally labeling them with their real names. The person named Jason, that was Guude. The person named Jeff, that was Jsano. The nurses didn’t mind him being there, and he helped them out as much as he could. More often than not though he’d sit next to Etho, and talked to him softly. More than anyone else, he wanted Etho back in his life. Every second that Etho was trapped in his coma, Nebris felt lonelier.

…

Etho was a totally wreck. Everyday he’d go and visit the grave of Nebris. There hadn’t been a cemetery built before, but they had built one just for him. It was just outside of Spawn Town. It was in a little field, covered in flowers and trees. It would be pretty, if it didn’t constantly remind Etho of what he had lost. Etho didn’t smile anymore these days. He wouldn’t have even left his house if it he didn’t feel some kind of obligation to visit the grave of the friend he had killed. He didn’t talk to anyone else. He just wanted to be alone.

Sometimes at night Etho would dream of a place he’d never seen before. Machines were hooked up to him, constantly beeping. A man would be sitting beside him, talking softly to him. “Etho, please wake up…” Etho knew that voice. It sounded so familiar. But it couldn’t be him.

It was a rainy day that Etho finally decided that he had no other choice. The gloom outside did nothing to improve his mood. He had made a snap judgement when Nebris first died to kill himself, and now with a clearer mind, he knew that was the right decision. He couldn’t go on living in a world without Nebris.

He wrote a note down and left it in a chest. He smiled for the first time in days as he muttered to himself. “At least they’ll have another use for that graveyard now.”

He took out his sword, the same one that had killed Nebris. He didn’t even pause as he drug the blade against his wrists.

His world went black.

…

Nebris was sitting next to Etho and talking to him about what he had done that day. Nothing important, but Nebris felt if he kept talking, maybe Etho could somehow hear him. That’s when a miracle happened.

Etho opened his eyes.

“Etho!” Nebris cried out, a bit too loudly. “You’re awake!”

A nearby nurse looked over and smiled. “I’ll get the doctor!”

“Nebris?” Etho choked out in a small voice. “Am I in heaven?”

Nebris laughed. “Might as well be buddy, might as well be!”

…

Nebris stood a bit out of the way as the doctor spoke to Etho telling him many of the things that he had told Nebris when he first woke up. It was only when the nurse called Etho by his so called real name that he spoke up.

“No no, that’s not my name. My name is Etho.” The nurse and doctor looked shocked again and looked over at Nebris.

“Did you tell him that name?” The doctor asked quietly.

“Nope.” Nebris smiled. “I told you it wasn’t a dream.”

The doctor stopped for a moment, and pulled the nurse over to the side, and whispered to her quietly and quickly. The nurse went away for a moment and came back with a tape recorder.

“Okay Etho, can you tell us about the dream you had while you were in the coma?” The doctor said kindly.

…

It wasn’t until much later that the doctor left Nebris and Etho alone. “You’re really here huh?” Etho said, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Yeah, I am. So are you now. Isn’t it great!”

Etho nodded. “I feel like I’m finally home after a really long mining trip.” Nebris giggled at that.

“I know this is kinda a weird question, but what happened? How did you finally wake up? Did you die in the dream?”

Etho nodded. “Uh yeah.” Etho said. “I was overwhelmed by a bunch of zombies. They got me good!” Etho’s voice went higher pitched like it always did when he was lying. He was looking down at his wrists, and grabbing at them with his hands. Nebris noticed but he didn’t want to comment on it.

“I’m just glad you are here.” Nebris felt tears coming to his own eyes now, tears he’d been holding back for so long. He leaned over Etho’s bed and gave him a hug, hoping Etho wouldn’t see the tears. But Etho was already crying too.


	4. Discovery and Recovery

Guude, Bdouble0, and Generikb all decided to go over to Etho’s house to cheer him up. He’d been hiding in his house since the horrible accident.

“Etho!” Guude called out when they got to his door. He didn’t respond.

“ETHO!” Bdubs boomed out. “We came to visit ya!”

“He’s not answering, let’s just go inside.” Genny said.

They opened the door, and were shocked by what they saw. Etho was sitting hunched over his table, completely still. His sword was on the floor, covered in blood. There was blood leaking from his arms. “Quick! Call Jsano over!” Guude cried out. He felt his heart drop to the floor.

By the time Jsano arrived they all knew it was much too late. Guude had found the note Etho had written in a chest nearby. He read it out loud to all those around him, in a startled, stilted voice. “I’m sorry. I know this is my only choice now. I just can’t go on anymore. You all were amazing friends to me. Please forgive me. Etho.”

He couldn’t believe it. Another friend gone. Only this time, Guude felt like this was his fault. If only he’d been there for him more. If only he hadn’t left him alone for so long. Guude fell to the floor sobbing, crumpling up the note in his hand. “Guy, why’d you do this. You didn’t have to…”

…

A couple days later, after they had held a funeral for Etho, Guude called a town meeting. They normally had one once a month, but the next meeting wasn’t for a few more days and Guude had something he really wanted to talk about. Everyone met in the town hall, a beautiful building with high stained glass windows. The sunlight shining through almost seemed too bright. There was a podium in the center, with seating all around. Guude walked up to the podium and started talking to his friends that were all gathered there.

“I know that last two weeks have been hard on us all. We lost two very good friends. But that is no reason to stop living your own life. We have to carry on. For them.” Guude stopped. He was choking back tears, and didn’t want to cry in front of everyone. He wanted to be a strong leader for them all. “If any of you feel depressed, or that you want to end your own life, please talk to me about it. Or anyone else. Don’t just do it…” Guude stopped again. He couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. They started falling down his face. He couldn’t continue. Pause walked up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Guude’s right. We’re still alive. I know, I’ve dealt with depression all my life, and it’s not fun. But we are all we have, and we’re here for each other, right Guude?” Pause stopped talking, and Guude nodded, with his hands on his face, trying to hide his sadness. “We’ll get through this together.”

…

Nebris spent Etho’s first night awake with him in the hospital. For some strange reason Nebris was worried that if Etho fell back asleep, he wouldn’t see him again, even though he knew that wasn’t the case.

“Do you miss it, the other world I mean?”

Etho was groggy from just waking up, and still in a lot of pain, but he replied, “Everything was so different there, but yeah, I do kinda miss it.” Etho sighed. “I guess it would be a little weird if we had sword battles here.”

Nebris giggled at that. “Probably, but do you think that’s going to stop me?”

Etho’s exhaustion eventually overtook him, and he fell into a deep slumber. Nebris watched over him for awhile, trying to stay awake, but all too soon he had fallen asleep as well.

Nebris spent the next few days with Etho in the hospital. It seemed that he wanted to recover quickly, and soon he was even walking on his own. Nebris goaded him on, saying that if Etho ever wanted to beat him in a battle again, he better get strong soon. Etho declared he could beat him right then, right there, if only they weren’t in a hospital. The doctor kept hovering around, asking them questions about their experiences in the other world, but didn’t give them any explanations about the comas they had all fallen into. Nebris didn’t trust him.

While Nebris was there, some of the families of the other men came to visit. It seemed that PaulSoaresJr had a wife and children. That made a lot of sense to him, PSJ always seemed to be rather fatherly. A woman came to visit Pause, saying she was his girlfriend. Nebris talked with her for awhile. He found it interesting to hear about these men he’d spent so much time with. He almost felt like he didn’t know them at all.

Etho’s family even came to visit him one day. Nebris went for a walk in a nearby park while they visited, not wanting to interrupt their family time. There were some flowers growing there, and Nebris had a strong urge to pick them and bring them back to Etho, knowing how much he liked flowers. He decided against it, it was just way too corny.

Once they left, Nebris went back up to visit with Etho again. “So how was the visit?”

“I dunno man, they hardly feel like my family. You feel more like my family. You and everyone else here. It’s still so strange. I guess I’m going to have to get used to it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Nebris felt much the same way. Yet he had another question that was plaguing his mind. “Do you remember what happened to us though? That doctor keeps asking about it. Do you remember how we all fell into a coma?”

“Kinda…” Etho trailed off, as if he were thinking deeply about something.. “We were all on a bus I think. All of the people in the room. I don’t remember why, but I think there was an accident of some sort…”

“A bus accident that put twenty odd men in a coma? That doesn’t seem right.” Nebris pondered. “That seems really strange. I wish I could remember…” The doctor was walking around the ward, taking notes about something. Nebris sneered in his direction. “He knows something but he’s not talking. I don’t like him.”


	5. A Heartless Void

Bdouble0 and Generikb were in the end, grinding out some levels to enchant their tools. They were also scheming up ways to cause trouble. “We open up a repair shop see.” Bdubs said slyly.

“Oh yeah?” said Genny.

"Except we don’t repair the tools. We just take ‘em.” Bdubs continued, with Genny giggling along.

“But how we explain to people when they want their tools back?”

“We’ll just tell them that they broke, but if they pay us double we’ll make them new tools!” Bdubs was laughing now too.

“We’ll be swimming in emeralds!” Generik laughed, but not paying attention he accidentally looked an Enderman right in the eyes.

“Uh oh.” Genny cried out.

“Quick, under here!” Bdubs quickly built a ceiling with dirt blocks next to the grinder so the enderman couldn’t get them. He pulled Genny under it with him.

“That’s some quick thinking partner.” Genny said, with a sigh of relief. The enderman stood outside the blocks, growling at them. Bdubs went to hit him, but he teleported away before he got a chance. They waited a few more minutes, looking around for any sign of him, before deciding it was safe to continue.

They finished getting their levels and enchanting soon after that, and decided to head back to the overworld. There was supposed to be a Town Meeting that day, and they didn’t want to be late and worry everyone else. But before they did, Genny stopped to look out over the edge, at the void.

“What do you think is down there?” Genny asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t want to know.” Bdubs replied, holding onto the back of Genny’s shirt. “Don’t fall now.”

That’s when they both heard that terrible growling again. “Uh oh.” Bdubs exclaimed before the Enderman teleported behind him, and hit him roughly in the back, pushing both him and Genny over the edge.

“That was stupid.” Bdubs cried out, seeing the platform they had been standing on moments before slowly get smaller and smaller. He held tightly onto Genny, as they seemed to fall forever into the void.

…

“So this is the magazine of great JUSTICE.” Nebris declared. They were spending another day in the hospital ward, watching over their friends, waiting for something to happen.

Etho giggled “I thought the television remote was for justice?”

“Etho when will you learn, many things can be for justice.”

A loud beeping noise rang out across the hospital ward. “What’s that?” Etho called out, and noticed that Bdubs heart monitor was flatlining. Nebris, who had been looking in the opposite direction, noticed a different heart monitor.

“Genny!”

“Bdubs!”

“Please, move out of the way.” the doctor called to them, running into the hospital ward with an emergency crew. Nebris and Etho quickly moved to the side. One team of doctors moved to Bdubs, while the other went to Genny.

Etho was shaking. Nebris moved closer to him, and grabbed his hand nonchalantly. Etho didn’t resist, but instead held tightly onto Nebris. Etho whispered out, “This can’t be happening…they can’t die here, not now…”

“It’ll be okay.” Nebris squeezed Etho’s hand tighter, trying to reassure him, but inside he was just as torn up. To him, everything seemed to be going in slow motion. The doctors were yelling at each other, bringing out machines, trying their best to start the two men’s hearts again. Nebris kept looking from one heart monitor to another, hoping to see them blip to life again. But it was looking grim. Nothing was happening. They were really gonna die.

“I…I wanted to meet them again, in this world…” Nebris spoke, his voice cracking as the words fell from his mouth. He could feel hot tears forming in his eyes. He wanted to turn away from Etho, so he wouldn’t see, but Etho pulled him closer into a hug. Nebris was so stunned, he didn’t know what to do, but eventually he accepted the taller man’s hug.

That’s when Etho cried out. “Look!” Nebris broke out of their hug and turned back towards where the doctors were working on the B-Team. The heart monitors had started again. The two men…they were still alive.  
Nebris quickly dried his eyes, and began to smile.

 

…

Guude was at his jungle base, brewing up some fire resistance and regeneration potions, when he noticed someone coming through his portal.

“Pause?”

“Hey Guude. What’s going on?”

“Well I was just preparing some stuff to go through the nether, we have a town meeting in about an hour, remember?” Guude looked back at his potions, which were still bubbling away.

“Yeah I know, I wanted to talk to you before that.” Pause sighed heavily, swinging his body onto a nearby chair.

“You know I’m always here to talk.” Guude smiled, but his face still showed concern.

“It’s just that, like, I dunno.” Pause seemed concerned himself, but Guude let him talk at his own pace. “There just has been some weird things I’ve been noticing lately. Like how do trees grow so fast? And why are we all exactly the same height? Doesn’t that seem strange? I feel like I ought to be taller than you”

Guude shrugged, “To be honest I never thought about it all that much.”

“Well I’ve been thinking. Something weird is going on here, and the fucking weirdest thing of all is the dreams I’ve been having lately. It’s like I’m in a whole ‘nother world. And the strange thing is, Nebris and Etho are there…” Pause stopped talking, his face cast downwards.

Guude had been having strange dreams lately too, but he didn’t want to bring that up now. “Is it just cause you’re feeling depressed?”

“I dunno brother, it feels so real.” Pause had taken out an arrow, and was playing with the feather at the end of it, a nervous habit of his.

Guude noticed that his potions had finished brewing. “Well man, let’s go to the Town Meeting. We can talk more about this later, okay?” Pause nodded, and they headed out to Spawn Town together.


	6. Searching

Guude took his position, at the podium in town hall, trying to get his head on straight to start the monthly town meeting. His mind was swirling with thoughts. A lot of the things Pause had been telling him seemed to be true. A lot of things in this world did seem to be very strange, yet that’s how it had always been. Why should it be any different? Yet somehow Guude felt that something was off. He sighed and scanned the crowd, making sure everyone was gathered for the meeting, and that’s when he noticed something.

“Where are Bdubs and Genny?” Everyone looked around, slightly concerned. It wasn’t like them to be late for a meeting. Millbee, sure was always late, but not the B-Team. And even Millbee had been on time today. 

Guude felt a knot of worry in his stomach.

Arkas spoke up. “I saw them heading towards the end earlier today, talking about enchanting their tools.”

Guude sighed with relief. “Well I guess this town meeting is having a field trip then. We are going to the end to get those two. They were probably just plotting something and lost track of time.” Everyone laughed and headed to the end portal.

Of course upon arriving there, everyone stopped laughing. “Bdubs? Genny?” Guude called out cautiously. “You guys here?”

“I don’t see them.” DocM piped up, sounding a bit nervous.

There was no trace of them. “Okay everybody, listen up. We are rescheduling the Town Meeting for tomorrow. Today I want everyone to spread out, we have to find the B-Team.”

…

In only a few hours time, Genny and Bdubs had woken up. For two men who had just gone through such trauma, they sure were acting chipper. The doctor spoke to both of them at once, and then, just like with Etho, he asked them about the dream, while recording it all on a tape recorder.

Nebris whispered over to Etho, “Why is he recording when we talk about the other world?”

Etho shrugged. “Maybe because we all had the same dream at the same time. Doesn’t that strike you as weird?”

“I dunno, to me it didn’t feel that much like a dream.”

“Me either.” Etho sighed. “Sometimes I still try to open up my inventory, even though I know it’s not there.”

Nebris giggled “I do that too!”

After a while, they were finally allowed to to talk to Genny and Bdubs. “Hey guys!” Genny called out a bit too cheerfully for a man who’d just been in a coma for a year.

“It’s great to see you guys again.” Nebris smiled.

Bdubs looked slightly concerned and addressed Etho directly. “Are you okay though man? We were all so upset after you…”

“I’m fine!” Etho interjected. He started grabbing at his arms again nervously. “Everything is fine now.” Nebris felt a pit of worry in his stomach. Etho never wanted to talk about how he died in the other world and Nebris suspected he knew why.

Bdubs dropped the subject. “In any case we died in the stupidest way imaginable. I’m so mad!”

“We were in the end, and an Enderman pushed us into the void!” Genny picked up the story.

“Yeah right after we had finished enchanting all our nice tools.” Bdubs grumbled.

“But I guess that doesn’t matter now! We are back baby!” Genny smiled. “I can see my beautiful blushing bride again.”

“And my wife as well. The doctor said they were headed over now!” Bdubs looked thrilled.

After a few more minutes, they were interrupted, but in the best way possible.

“Nicole!” Bdubs shouted out, on seeing his wife again. But his happiness was pushed even further when he saw what she was carrying. “Is that?”

“Yes, well I found out I was pregnant right after you fell into your coma. John, I want you to met your daughter.” The woman smiled.

Etho and Nebris excused themselves from the room shortly after that, not wanting to intrude on the happy family moment. They took a walk in the nearby park. Etho, still not as strong as Nebris was yet, took a seat under a shady tree. Nebris stood next to it, lightly tapping it with his fist.

“I guess no matter how much I punch it, this tree won’t fall down.” Nebris pondered, turning around and leaning against the tree.

“Haha, nope, not here.”

“Yeah.” Nebris felt a bit disappointed. He missed the other world sometimes still, but he didn’t really know why. In a way, it had been a lot of fun, almost like a game.

“Hey Etho?” Nebris said, sliding down the tree and sitting next to Etho. “Can you tell me about what really happened there? How you really died?”

“I…” Etho started fidgeting with his hands again. “I guess I kinda killed myself.” Etho couldn’t look at Nebris as he said those words.

Nebris didn’t reply, but instead stood up for a moment and walked away. When he returned he had a flower in his hand. “Here, have this flower of justice.”

Etho gave him a weary smile. “Thanks man.”

Nebris sat back down next to Etho and leaned against the tree with his eyes closed. He felt a heavy emotion in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe.

…

After hours of searching everywhere they could in the world, everyone met back up at Town Hall just as the sky was turning dark. No one had found a single trace of the B-Team. It was like they had vanished.

“Dammit man.” Guude swore. “They couldn’t have just disappeared…” But Guude could think of one way they could have vanished. Only he didn’t want to think of that, it hurt too much.

Pause spoke up first. “We should all head back to our houses before it gets dark. We can look again tomorrow, right Guude?”

“Sure thing…” Guude sighed, but he knew in his heart that they would never find them.


	7. The Hero Dies in This One

“Hey Nebris?” Etho was sitting in the hospital ward with Nebris again. Bdubs and Genny had already gone home to their families. They visited sometimes, but not on that day.

“Huh?” Nebris muttered, looking up at the television, lazily changing the channels. Nebris had felt distant to Etho lately, and it was worrying him.

“Did I ever tell you about my job before I went into the coma? Ya ever heard of youtube?”

“Haha, yeah I have. I actually used to make videos!” Nebris looked away from the television smiling.

"Really? So did I!” Etho smiled back. He had finally got Nebris talking to him again. He didn’t want to lose this opportunity. “So actually, changing the topic a bit, huh well it’s kinda hard to put into words…” Etho paused while Nebris looked at him patiently, “I was wondering if you…” Etho’s words were cut short when they suddenly heard a voice from across the room.

“Huh? Where the fuck am I?” A voice they hadn’t heard in so long called out. Nebris and Etho stood up quickly and rushed over to the man’s side.

BlameTheController had woken up.

 

…

BTC knew it had been a stupid mistake to go mining in that cave with Guude and Pause. The cave was far too wide open, and there were way too many dark ledges above where monsters could spawn and get the jump on them. Still he had gone, out of some sense of duty that he could protect the other two. Despite him not getting along too well with Pause, he still cared for the man.

“Guys, I think I hear a skeleton.” BTC called out warily.

“Don’t be such a pussy, I got my bow at the ready. We need to find more gold down here so stop watching the furnaces and help us already.” Pause said in a tone half joking, half seriously.

They were searching for gold for golden apples. Guude had decided at the last town meeting that all members should carry one on them at all times, just in case. After they couldn’t find the B-Team, Guude’s attitude had taken a much more nervous vibe to it.

“I am helping” BTC grumbled to himself. He left the furnace he had been attending to, and went in the direction of Pause’s voice. That’s when he saw the skeleton, fully decked out in diamond gear, with an enchanted bow trained at Pause’s head.

“Pause watch out!” BTC ran forward, despite knowing that this was a battle he was unlikely to win. Still he couldn’t help himself. He threw himself in front of Pause just as the skeleton let an arrow loose.

“Fuck!” It hurt. It hurt like hell. BTC didn’t know what kind of enchants that skeleton had on his bow, but it was something powerful. BTC fell to the ground, the arrow in his side oozing blood.

Pause noticed the skeleton, and shot off three arrows in quick succession before the skeleton could load another arrow. The skeleton broke apart. Pause’s heart was beating fast. “BTC?” Pause cried out in a higher pitched voice than normal.

BTC didn’t respond. Pause knelt over his body, and tried to feel for a pulse. He felt none. He started to panic. Guude, who had been mining nearby, realized something was amiss and came running over.

“BTC? BTC????” Pause couldn’t stop saying his name.

Guude felt like his mind and heart were breaking in two. He couldn’t do anything. Had they really lost someone else so easily?

…

BTC sighed to himself after the doctor had finished talking to him and explaining the situation. “I knew I shouldn’t have rushed in like that. But I just did it anyway. Never rush into something you know you can’t win, that’s what I always say….”

“It’s okay, it was for the best wasn’t it really?” Etho smiled.

“Besides, you weren’t a coward for once, right?” Nebris teased.

“Yeah yeah, I know, I’m a big chicken, a furnace watcher!” BTC said with a straight face, but they could tell he was just kidding around. “I wonder if they’ll let me bring my cats here…”


	8. Harsh Truths

“Why should I help you out?” Nebris said standoffishly. “You know something about the comas that you aren’t telling us. You keep saying that we’ll remember, but I don’t remember a thing! And now you want me to help you with this!” Nebris had been in the hospital alone that day. Etho was visiting his family and BTC had finally been released. The doctor had called Nebris into his office. It seemed he was trying to get a paper published in a scientific magazine about their shared dreaming. He wanted a statement and some neuroimaging from Nebris, but Nebris wasn’t going to help so easily.

“For one thing, we are all from all over the world right? So why are we all in one hospital? You know something, tell me!” Nebris slammed his fist on the table.

The doctor sighed. “Yes I do know something Chris.”

“Call me NEBRIS.”

“Yes, well Nebris, you and ….” the doctor said the real name of Etho which angered Nebris even more.

“ETHO. His name is ETHO. Don’t call him that name.”

“Yes well you and Etho were…”

He didn’t finish his sentence because a nurse came rushing into his office. “Doctor, another one woke up!”

“Who!? And call them by their real name!” Nebris cried out before the doctor could respond.

“Umm, Arkas.” the nurse fumbled.

“Nebris we’ll continue this discussion another time. Let’s go see your friend.”

…

Guude was sitting in front of Pyro’s bookshop, thumbing over the pages of a book but not really paying attention to the words. His mind was elsewhere. He kept thinking about how the B-Team might still be alive somewhere, although he doubted it after all this time. And about BTC. Guude blamed himself for his death. If only he’d been paying more attention to Pause, he might have been able to shoot the skeleton first and avoided the disaster that ensued. He felt like he had been making so many mistakes lately. He felt like a failure.

Guude had been trying to make sure all the remaining people were kept safe. He gave everyone a golden apple and splash potions of regeneration. He made sure everyone had full diamond armor with the best enchants possible. He didn’t want another accident to happen. He also enforced a daily meet-up at town hall in the morning to make sure everyone was safe. He had been working so hard, yet he still felt it wasn’t enough.

“Hey Guude,” a voice called out nearby, startling Guude and making him drop his book.

“AH! Oh. Hi guy.”

“Whatcha reading?” Pause said, handing the book back to Guude and sitting down next to him.

“Oh I dunno. Nothing really. Pause, I’ve been thinking recently.” Guude put the book down beside him. “I don’t think I’m cut out to be the leader anymore. I just, I feel all broken up inside lately and I want to be strong, but I just can’t be anymore. I just…”

Pause had never seen Guude like this before. All his life Guude had been laughing and leading them all. Now he just seemed like he had no direction. “Guude, you are strong. You just keep letting all your emotions bottle up inside, I think.”

“I dunno. I feel like if one more thing goes wrong, I’ll end up breaking. BTC died right in front of us practically, and we couldn’t do anything to save him. I stay up late at night thinking about who will be the next to die. What if it’s me? What if it’s you?” Guude held his face in his hands. “I can’t take it anymore. I want everything to go back to the way it was before.”

Pause sighed. He wished that as well. The dreams he had at night were becoming more and more realistic, and it was a strain on him. Pause didn’t like to show his weak side, but he woke up every morning crying. In his dreams, they were all there, happy and smiling. Etho, Nebris, Bdubs, Genny, and BTC. They were all waiting to see him again. Pause couldn’t help but think that. He wanted to see them again so badly. Especially he wanted to see BTC. He wanted to apologize for always being such a jerk, to thank him for saving his life. He knew he’d never get that chance though.

His thoughts were interrupted though, when Baj came running over with a look of dismay on his face. “Guude! There was an accident…Arkas was building at his castle…and and and he fell…” Baj croaked out, clearly out of breath. “I tried to save him but…”

The rest of Baj’s sentence was drowned out by the sound of Guude’s distressed scream.

…

“Arkas, I love you buddy, but don’t help him.” Nebris said, interjecting into the conversation the doctor was having with him. “Don’t trust a word he says.”

“Chris…I mean Nebris,” The doctor said, correcting himself when he saw the look on Nebris’s face. “I’m not your enemy here. I’m truly trying to help you and your friends.”

“Then why haven’t you told us what you know yet? I WANT THE TRUTH.” Nebris punched a nearby wall so hard he dented it.

“Okay Nebris” The doctor pulled him away from where Arkas was. “Are you sure you are ready for the truth?”

Nebris nodded, his teeth clenched and his fists in balls. He was ready.

 

…

Etho was tending to some flowers in his parent’s greenhouse when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He saw it was Nebris and quickly answered it. “Hello?”

“Etho, I am going away.”

“What!?”

“Don’t look for me.”

“Nebris wait what? What’s going on?” Etho didn’t hear a response, and looked at his phone to see that Nebris had hung up on him. Etho felt panicked. He tried to dial Nebris back, but it went straight to voicemail. Etho’s mouth went dry and his hands started to shake. He didn’t know what to do.

He felt like he was losing Nebris all over again.

"Shit.”


	9. A Pact

Kurt, Zisteau, and Vechs had all been staying together at Kurt’s Fermilab Wilson Hall build. After everything that had been happening, they decided it was probably for the the best to stick together. It was the night after Arkas died that Vechs woke Zisteau up.

“Zisteaaaaau.” Vechs cried out, leaning closer to him. “Wake up please.”

“Huh what who’s there?” Zisteau said, still half asleep.

“I had that dream again!” Vech could be so childish sometimes. Zisteau sat up in bed and managed to focus his eyes.

“What dream now?”

“The one where I’m in a strange room. And it smells funny. But everyone is there. I mean everyone who has died.” Vechs looked down at the ground. “Can I sleep with you?”

“No you may not. But wait you had a dream like that?” Zisteau seemed to recall having a dream just like that, just moments ago.

“Yeah. I keep having it all the time. Sometimes I don’t want to go to sleep at all.” Vechs frowned, sitting on the bed next to Zisteau. “Please can I stay here?”

“Wait, but I had that same dream?” Zisteau said, feeling a bit confused.

“You did?” Vechs seemed somewhat excited about that. “Wait a second…” Vechs bounded off and came back dragging a very sleepy Kurt.

“Kurt! What were you dreaming about just now?” Vechs asked, a grin spreading across his face.

“Oh well, it’s kinda silly but, I was dreaming about this white room, and Nebris and Etho were there, and well everyone else who has passed away.” Kurt looked a bit befuddled. “Why do you ask? It’s kinda late.”

“Aha!” Vechs yelled out, coming across a major realization. “I knew it! We all had the same dream. Do you know what that means?” Vechs looked at them, but neither one of them had a clue where he was going with this. Vechs continued nonetheless. “This is not the real world!”

“What?” Kurt and Zisteau shouted out at once.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and everything is clicking into place. The floating blocks. The way redstone works. How none of the animals have genders and they can all breed with each other. None of that stuff makes sense. This isn’t real. That other world. That’s the real one!” Vechs said triumphantly. “And I know how to get back there. We just have to die here!”

“Are you serious right now?” Zisteau said. His sleepiness instantly disappearing. Vechs was dead serious.

“Yeah. We have to die! Then we can go back to the real world.” Vechs smiled even brighter. “I know I’m right.”

“Don’t be foolish Vechs.” Kurt said softly. “Remember what Guude said about how if you feel depressed you can talk to him.”

“I’m not depressed! I’m not suicidal. I just want to live again in the real world. You guys have to believe me. Just think about it for a moment. Or wait, answer this question for me Kurt. How did you come up with the name for this building?”

“I…” Kurt paused for a moment. “I don’t know. I feel like I know it from somewhere…”

Vechs nodded manically. “And Pigderp, can you tell me about your childhood, you must’ve had one right? Or how we all came to live here together? How we all first met?”

“Well”. He tried to remember, as far back as he could, to his childhood. To how he had first met Vechs. Nothing came to him. It seemed to him that they had always been here. But that couldn’t be possible could it. They had to come from somewhere. They weren’t like mobs, spawning out of the darkness.

Kurt seemed to be facing a similar dilemma. He finally spoke up, a bit more confidently now. “I think he might be right Zisteau.”

“I am right. Kurt you must’ve named this building after something in the real world! And Zisteau, you have no memories because this isn’t the real world!”

Zisteau was stubborn, but he also knew when to admit he might be wrong. Even if it sounded crazy, Vechs was right. “Okay fine. But are you sure dying will bring us back to the real world?”

Vechs clapped his hands together joyfully and nodded. “Yes of course! Let’s all go together, shall we?” His two companions nodded. “Let’s leave a note, letting everyone know where we have gone. That way they can come join us!” Vechs pulled out a book and quickly scribbled down a note, and left it in a chest. He simply labeled the chest with a sign, “Wake Up!”

The three of them left after that, going down in a mine, down towards bedrock. There was a shimmering pool of lava there.

“Okay, we jump together.” Zisteau said, grabbing the hands of his two companions. “On the count of three.” Zisteau was scared, more scared than he could ever remember being in his life.

“One.”

Was this really the right thing to do? Was he just still half asleep and listening to a crazy man lead him to his death?

“Two.”

But everything that he said did seem to make sense. And it was too late to back down now. He gripped their hands tighter.

“Three.”

They jumped together and felt the burning pain for a few moments, then everything went black.

They woke up.


	10. Broken

Guude paced around Town Hall, sweating nervously. “Where are they?” It was way past the normal time everyone met up in the morning, but Vechs, Zisteau, and Kurt hadn’t shown up yet. “Those damn fools. They know how important this is to me.”

“Calm down Guude. Why don’t we send someone to go check out Kurt’s base? They were all staying there.” Pause said from one of the seats, where he was sitting playing with one of his arrows.

“Yeah…” Guude didn’t look hopeful as he sent Beef and Pakratt to Kurt’s base.

…

 

Beef and Pak quickly realized that something was very wrong when they arrived at Kurt’s base and no one was there. They scouted out the area, and found the chest that Vechs had left.

Pak read the note inside out loud, his eyes growing wider with every word. “Hello friends! Do not be alarmed we have gone back to the real world. This world we are living in right now, it isn’t the real one. Don’t believe me, you silly goose?! Well try asking yourself this. Why are we all having the same dreams at night of the same place? And why doesn’t anyone have any memories of how we all met or arrived here? Well that’s because this isn’t the real world. To get back to the real one, you simply have to die here. We’ll be waiting for you there! <3 Vechs”

Beef cried out a bit. “Oh no Kurt…What did Vechs make you do?” Pak put his hand on Beef’s shoulder. “What are we going to tell Guude? He’s not going to like this.”

Pak sighed. “I just don’t know anymore. But this note…it seems to make a lot of sense actually…”

…

Guude hadn’t let anyone else leave the town hall while he waited for the return of Pak and Beef. He was so nervous his shirt had gotten completely soaked through with sweat. He snapped at anyone who tried to talk to him.

Beef came back into the building, followed shortly by Pak. He seemed very apprehensive.

“Did you find them?” Guude said, but seeing as they had not returned with them, Guude already knew the answer.

“Do you really even want to know?” Beef couldn’t look Guude in the eye. “But Guude there is something we really need to discuss right now…”

Guude snapped. “NO. No more discussions. I’m fucking leaving.” Guude stormed out of the building before Beef could say another word.

…

Etho tried to put on a happy face when he returned to the hospital the next day. He thought maybe Nebris would be there, waiting for him with a goofy smile like he always did, but that wasn’t the case. He kept his phone in his hand, looking at it from time to time, hoping for another message from Nebris.

Etho was thrilled that so many people had woken up the previous day. It kinda felt like a family reunion as he talked with the other men.

“See guys, I knew I was right. That was just a dream world.” Vechs smiled widely.

“Well if you were wrong we’d just be dead so I guess I can’t be too angry with you.” Zisteau laughed.

“Indeed!” Kurt said, smiling. “I can’t wait to be able to look at the real stars again.”

It was so noisy with so many of them there at once. Vechs kept trying to get out of his bed despite the nurses insisting he stay there. “I just wanna be closer to Pigderp!” Vechs whined.

“Have any of you guys seen Nebris around this morning though?” Etho inquired. They all shook their heads, but Arkas spoke up from across the room.

“I saw him yesterday. He was arguing with the doctor. He demanded that he tell him the truth about what happened to us. The doctor pulled him aside, and then Nebris stormed out of here.”

“What?” Etho’s heart felt heavy. Nebris had gone away somewhere again and left him alone. Etho pulled out his phone and stared at it for awhile, trying to figure out what to do. He couldn’t find any answers. Etho cursed at himself. He just wanted Nebris back.


	11. Waking Up

“Alright, so what do you guys think?” Beef said to the group gathered in Town Hall. Everyone was still there, except for Guude. Beef had just read the note Vechs wrote out loud to them all.

“Well I mean I’ve been having weird dreams about a strange white room, I don’t know about the rest of you.” Baj started.

“Woah man, that sounds just like my dream. Except Nebris, Etho, BTC, and the rest are there.” Avidya said in surprise. “And last night Kurt, Vechs, and Zisteau were there too.”

The group all started chiming in with agreements. Beef held up his hand. “So do you guys think this note has any merit to it? Do you think Vechs could’ve been right?”

Everyone went silent. It was a tough pill to swallow for sure. But the more they thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make.

“I mean what now? Are we really all going to kill ourselves mate?” Pyro rapidly replied after a few moments.

It seemed grim, but eventually the group came to that conclusion. They decided to meet up the next day with some poison potions.

…

Etho was there when the room suddenly came alive with the sounds of grunts, groans, and faint hellos. He looked from person to person in the room. They were all waking up. The doctor rushed in started inspecting everyone. Etho slipped out of the room for the moment, even though he was happy, all the commotion was giving him a headache. Plus with that many people all waking up at once, it would take some time before he’d be able to talk to any of them.

Instead he went for a walk through the park again. He stopped by the tree where he and Nebris had talked. It was still the same, yet to Etho it looked different without Nebris there. Ever since that day when Etho told Nebris the truth about how he died, Nebris had been getting more and more distant. Etho wondered if he had made a terrible mistake. If Nebris hated him now. He pulled out his phone and sent a short text message to Nebris, “Everyone is waking up now. You should come back, I’m sure they want to see you again…”

When Etho returned to the hospital, it was quite a scene. Everyone was talking to each other, almost as if they hadn’t been in a coma for so long. Etho looked around and noticed that two of the men had not woken up yet. “Where are Pause and Guude?”

“Pause went off to find Guude. Guude kinda had a nervous breakdown. I mean with so many people dying. I probably would have too if I hadn’t read that note from Vechs.” Beef said.

“I knew my note would help!” Vechs smiled, pacing up and down the aisle of beds, despite the nurses pleading with him to get back in his own.

“I’m sure they’ll wake up soon.” Mhykol said, watching Vech’s antics.

Etho was glad that so many people were now awake. All the chaos in the once quiet hospital ward helped distract him from his own thoughts.

…

When Pause finally found Guude, he was curled up in his bed at his jungle base, sobbing into a pillow. Pause tried to explain the situation to him, but Guude just seemed angry at every word that left Pause’s throat.

“Guude, you have to believe me.” Pause pleaded with him. “Everyone else has already gone. We are the only two left.”

“What? That I have to die? That’s so stupid Pause.” Guude’s voice was small. He pulled the covers more tightly against his body, trying to shut out the world around him.

“Dammit it Guude! I am going to die, and then you’ll be the only one left here. Is that what you want?”

“No…please don’t leave me alone.” Guude sobbed.

“Then come on!” Pause pulled the covers off his bed, and grabbed Guude’s hand. Guude didn’t fight anymore, and got up. He followed Pause up a vine in one of his jungle trees. Up to a height that would certainly kill them.

“I’m scared Pause.”

“Relax Guude. It will only take a minute. I know we’ll see each other again, once we are back in the other world. Let’s jump together.”

Pause took Guude’s hand again, and lead him to the edge of the tree. Together they jumped.

…

Nebris had found him. It hadn’t taken him as long as he thought it would, but nonetheless he knew what he had to do. “Notch.” Nebris smiled at the bewildered man in front of him. “Come with me.”


	12. Let the Games Begin!

Guude opened his eyes and found himself thinking he was still dreaming. He was in that room he saw so many times in his dreams, and the faces of everyone he had lost were looking down at him. “Am I dead?”

“Ha, nope! You still got to deal with all of us.” Beef smiled. 

The doctor cleared everyone out of the way while he looked at Pause and Guude. He didn’t bother asking them many questions, but instead let the group enjoy finally being back together. There was only one person missing that day. Nebris.

Etho sat in a chair in the corner, unable to motivate himself enough to get up and join in the celebration. He wanted to be happy, but his worry overwhelmed him. He looked down at his phone, desperate for some kind of message. Still nothing. Etho could feel a shadow of depression creeping over his mind.

It was then that the door to the hospital ward opened. A strange man entered, followed by someone very familiar.

“Nebris!” Etho shouted, and he couldn’t help himself but to run up and give him a hug. Nebris didn’t resist. “Why did you leave? Why didn’t you answer me?” Etho felt relieved, and a bit like killing Nebris all at once.

“Because I was finding someone very important.” Nebris smiled. “Hey everyone, listen up!” Nebris looked around the room, happy to see everyone had woken up. That would make this next part that much sweeter. “This man here is the reason why we all fell into comas.”

The room was silent. No one spoke but they all looked up at the man that Nebris had brought with him. “Notch is his name. He is the one who created the game of Minecraft.”

“What’s Minecraft?” Anderz spoke up.

“Notch, can you tell them?” Nebris replied.

The man looked very nervous, but spoke clearly. “Well it was a game I was testing out. I wanted to make an open world game unlike any that had been seen before. So I made Minecraft. I’m sure you know what it is well enough by now, apparently you’ve all been playing it for the past year…”

The room gasped and looked at each other wildly. The same thoughts were crossing all of their minds. That other world, it had just been a game?

“In any case, I chose some people from youtube that I liked to watch, and called them all here to test out my game. It was full immersion virtual reality, using a special helmet to play. But there was a problem. It glitched out somehow. Everyone who was wearing the helmet fell into a coma. By everyone, I mean everyone here. Well after that I stopped development on the game, and left you all here with my good friend Dinnerbone. I knew he’d look after you well.” Notch pointed towards the doctor, who smiled briefly.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was trying to process the information they had just received.

“I’m not sure why you all continued to play the game after the coma, Dinnerbone said he’s been trying to figure that out. But Nebris why did you bring me here?” Notch was sweating slightly.

“Thank you Notch. But I had a very good reason for bringing you here.” Nebris’s smile grew wild. “Please start making Minecraft again! I really want to play. But maybe just make it a mouse and keyboard game this time?”

That’s when chaos broke out in the room. Everyone started shouting all at once in agreement with Nebris. Those who could walk started crowding around Notch, asking him all sorts of questions, with those still bed bound just yelled. It was very chaotic and loud. 

Nebris slipped out of the room during all the chaos, knowing that Etho would follow shortly thereafter. He stood behind the door, and when Etho came out he tackled him. Etho yelled out before giggling. 

“You are gonna need better reflexes if you are ever gonna beat me Etho.” Nebris grinned.

“Oh I could take you on any day.” Etho smiled. “But really, you had me so worried.”

“I just wasn’t thinking I guess. I was so shocked when I heard about what really happened to us. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at first. My first thought was that I wanted to beat Notch up, but then I realized that I needed him to make Minecraft again. Sorry.” Nebris didn’t look all that apologetic. 

“That was a very vague reason to run away like you did.” Etho felt angry. Nebris had made him worry so much.

“I dunno. Maybe I was running away from myself in a way. It’s hard to explain. Sometimes I don’t understand my own feelings.” Nebris looked a bit distracted as he said these words.

“Well don’t do that again.” Etho demanded.

“I won’t, I won’t.” 

“And apologize right now for making me worry so much.”

“I’m soooooorrry.” Nebris said a bit sarcastically. 

“I don’t think that’s good enough.” Etho suddenly had a plan. “You are gonna have to make it up to me in another way.”

“How?”

Etho roughly shoved Nebris up against the wall, his arm against Nebris’s neck. Nebris’s eyes grew wide at the sudden attack. Etho stared into his wide shocked eyes for a moment before closing his own, and bringing his lips down upon Nebris’s.

“That’s how.”

Nebris finally realized why he’d been so nervous around Etho for all this time. Why he had tried to distance himself from him. He didn’t want to hide it anymore. 

Nebris loved him. 

Etho had let Nebris go, but Nebris pulled him back in for another kiss. And then another. “I won’t ever leave you again.” Nebris whispered in between kisses. “Never.”

 

...

 

A few months later, Nebris sat down at his computer, and opened up the new game for the first time. He felt a rush of excitement as he entered in the IP address for the server Guude had created. A name popped up above it, stating the name of the new server they’d be playing on. “Mindcrack huh? Seems fitting.” Nebris giggled to himself.

He logged on, seeing all his friends there already waiting for him. He leaned over to the man sitting next to him and squeezed his hand. “You ready Etho?”

Etho glowed with excitement. “I am so ready.” 

They put on their headphones and listened as Guude started talking. “Welcome to season one of the Mindcrack server!”


	13. Deleted Scenes

**1\. Nebris and BTC have a drawing competition**

Nebris had found some pens and paper somewhere and brought them over to BTC’s bed. “Let’s draw each other!”

“Really Nebris?” BTC sighed, taking a pen and piece of paper from the other man. Nebris nodded excitedly. “Okay fine but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m the best at drawing.”

“Sure you are.” Nebris joked.

They both spent some time scribbling on their papers, BTC getting frustrated and crumpling up his own sheet and asking for a new one several times. Finally they were both done.

“Okay here look at this magical picture” BTC held up his paper, which had a picture of Nebris leaping dramatically across the page like a ballerina.

“That’s so fucking majestic!” Nebris laughed. “Ok here is mine.” Nebris held up his paper which had a picture of a chicken on it. Underneath it was titled “BTC the Justice Chicken.”

“You are such a jerk Nebris!” BTC said, punching him lightly on the arm.

 

**2\. Etho asks Nebris out...kinda**

“Well you see, I think we should well…” Etho was so nervous. He wanted to get this perfectly. “I think we should go out! No no no that’s not right. Let me try again.”

Etho was staring at a flower in front of him in his parent’s greenhouse. “Ahem. Nebris I want to go out with you. Errr… will you go out with me? Dangit.”

“Talking to the flowers again?” Etho’s mother came around the corner.

“Errr something like that.” Etho blushed.

 

**3\. Millbee and MC (the night before they all wake up)**

“So MC I guess this means we will be leaving our wonderful builds behind?” Millbee said, staring at his fantastic build of a random assortment of blocks stacked up haphazardously.

MC was busy brewing up several bottles of poison potions. “Oh yeah, your build is something else alright.”

“Before we go though, there is something I’ve been dying to tell you MC.” Millbee’s face took on a serious look.

“Yeah?”

“AAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU.” Millbee belted out in the best singing voice he could muster.

“I should throw one of these potions at you right now.”

 

**4\. Pause and BTC reunion after they both wake up**

It was late one night, after everyone else had already been released from the hospital besides Pause and Guude. BTC made a visit to see Pause, on Pause’s request.

“I heard he had a rough time after everyone started dying,” BTC said, pointing over at Guude while taking a seat in a chair near Pause’s bed.

“Yeah well he tried to take all the responsibility onto himself, when he really shouldn’t have. He was our leader though, he was trying.” Pause sighed, remembering how Guude had been. Since they’d woken up Guude seemed to have gone back to normal mostly, but Pause worried about him still. “Anyway, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Yeah?”

“I know in the end it didn’t mean much, but thanks for saving my life back there.” Pause smiled. He didn’t want to apologize, but he felt he had no other choice, he still felt a bit guilty.

“Well as Nebris said, ‘At least I wasn’t a coward for once,’” BTC did a really poor imitation of Nebris’s voice, which had Pause in stitches.

“Well still, thanks bruh! But you better not still be a coward once Notch finishes the new game and you can’t really die in it.”

“No promises” BTC smiled.


End file.
